Spring loaded hinge



Jan. 10, 1961 R. P. HERZFELD 2,967,325

SPRING LOADED HINGE Filed May 9, 1960 iii (Mu-mam P. HERZFELD Lips ATTORNEY v United States Patent SPRING LOADED HINGE Richard P. Herzfeld, 3541 N. Lake Drive, Milwaukee, Wis.

Filed May 9, 1960, Ser. No. 27,959

3 Claims. (Cl. 16-189) This invention relates to spring loaded hinges and more particularly to a hinge having a single inconspicuous coil spring in the hinge pin opening acting both as a hinge pin and to bias the hinge.

In copending Herzfeld and Collins application Serial Number 796,334 one approach is taken to providing an inconspicuous hinge biasing spring. A helical spring is shown as one embodiment in that application but the ends of the spring project from both ends of the hinge pin opening and are, therefore, conspicuous to an unwanted extent. Another embodiment shown in that application has both ends of the spring projecting from the same end of the hinge pin opening but the spring body consists of two straight parallel wires which do not provide as strong a biasing force as a coil spring.

A partial solution to the above problem is set forth in my copending application Serial Number k854,396, in which large and small helical springs are used'toincrease the biasing force while retaining the advantage of having spring ends which project from only one end of the hinge pin opening to bear against the hinge plates. However, this double spring construction is necessarily more expensive than a single spring construction.

The object of this invention is to provide a spring biased hinge in which the biasing means acts as the hinge pin and combines the advantages of low cost, aesthetic appeal and strong biasing force.

This object is accomplished by use of a single coil spring sized to just fit in the hinge pin opening and having a straight end at the top of the hinge bent to cooperate with one hinge plate and a straight end at the bottom of the hinge swedged over the bottom hinge ear and bent back through the center of the spring to project from the top of the spring where it is bent to bear against the other hinge plate.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in, or be apparent from, the specification and claims as will obvious modifications of the single embodiment shown in the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of the spring of the present invention before insertion in the hinge pin opening;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the spring mounted in the hinge pin opening;

Figure 3 is a bottom view of the spring in the hinge pin opening;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 in Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a partial sectional view taken on line 5-5 in Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, hinge is comprised of hinge plate 12 connected to eyeglass front l4 and binge plate 16 connected to eyeglass temple 18. Hinge plate 16 has ears 20 which cooperate with ears 22 projecting from hinge plate 12 to form hinge pin opening 24.

Spring 26 has a short end 30 bent to bear against 2,967,325 Patented Jan. 10, 1961 ice hinge plate 12 and a long end 32 which extends axially of the coil spring body 28 for insertion into the hinge pin opening.

Upon insertion in opening 24, long end 32 is bent back up through the inside of the spring so that a loop 31 projects out the bottom of opening 24 and a tip portion 33 projects from the top of the opening. Loop 31 is bent to overlie a hinge ear thereby retaining the spring in the hinge pin opening, and tip 33 is bent to bear against hinge plate 16. The spring is preloaded by rotating tip 33 about the axis of opening 24 before bending it into final engagement with plate 16.

This construction permits the hinge plate contacting members 30 and 33 both to project from the top of the hinge pin opening which gives a symmetrical appearance, and hence heightens the aesthetic appeal of the device.

Although but one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A spring loaded hinge comprising, a hinge having a pair of hinge plates, each hinge plate having ears that cooperate to form a hinge pin opening, a helical spring in the hinge pin opening being torsionally stressed about the hinge pin opening axis, the spring body having a diameter substantially equal to that of the hinge pin opening,'a portion of the spring being bent to overlie a hinge ear at one end of the hinge pin opening, the ends of the spring projecting from the other end of the hinge pin opening and each bearing against one of the hinge plates whereby the torsional forces are transmitted to the plates.

2. A spring loaded hinge comprising, a hinge having a pair of hinge plates, each hinge plate having ears which cooperate to form a hinge pin opening, a helical spring in the hinge pin opening being torsionally stressed about the hinge pin opening axis, the helical spring body having a diameter substantially equal to that of the hinge pin opening, one portion of the spring projecting from one end of the hinge pin opening and being bent to bear against one hinge plate, another portion of the spring being swedged over the hinge car at the other end of the hinge pin opening and bent back through the hinge pin opening to project from said one end of the hinge pin opening to bear against the other hinge plate.

3. A spring loaded hinge comprising, a hinge having a pair of hinge plates, each hinge plate having ears which cooperate to form a hinge pin opening, a helical spring mounted in the hinge pin opening and torsionally stressed about the hinge pin opening axis, the helical spring body having a diameter substantially equal to that of the hinge pin opening, one end of the spring extending from one end of the hinge pin opening and bearing against one of the hinge plates, and the other end of the spring overlying a hinge ear at the other end of the hinge pin opening and bent back through and out of said one end of the pin opening to bear against the other hinge plate whereby the hinge plates are biased apart.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,182,895 Clay May 16, 1916 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,758 Great Britain Apr. 26, 1876 

